Sky Arts has today appointed five new Sky Arts Ambassadors to mentor the next generation of talent as part of its continuing mission to champion emerging artists and support cultural recovery when the industry needs it most. Each Ambassador will create a new scheme that offers talented artists mentorship, guidance and career development.

The Sky Arts ambassadors are:
Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nadia Fall
Writer and Booker Prize winner, Bernardine Evaristo
Paraorchestra Artistic Director and conductor, Charles Hazlewood
Dance artist and choreographer, Akram Khan
Celebrated sculptor, Anish Kapoor

Launch of Artistic Associate Bursary at Stratford East
We're proud to be one of the organisations involved in Sky Arts’ new Ambassador programme with our Artistic Director, Nadia Fall, representing Stratford East as the Sky Arts ambassador for theatre. As part of this we are thrilled to create the Sky Arts Artistic Associates Bursary. Based at the theatre, this bursary offers two early to mid-career creatives – from any creative discipline – the chance to work with Nadia and the artistic team in a post to generate ideas, artistic collaborations and contribute to productions. At least one of these positions has been ringfenced for an Artist who self-identifies as D/deaf or disabled. Applications for the two new positions have opened today and you can find out more here.


Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts and Entertainment, commented:
“In 2021 as we search for a way out of the pandemic we are turning our attention to the cultural recovery and, in particular, the difficulties facing the next generation of young arts practitioners in a world where opportunities have drastically diminished. Our new ambassador scheme is the cornerstone of this activity and we are lucky to have five of the leading lights in their fields running bursaries which provide funding and mentoring to up-coming talent. We are looking forward to working with them all and watching some incredible new work take shape.”

Other opportunities from Sky Arts ambassadors:
In her role as ambassador, writer Bernardine Evaristo will collaborate with the Royal Society of Literature to create the Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards. Open to emerging writers of colour across different literary forms, the five award winners will receive ten mentoring sessions over 12 months with a leading writer, a tutorial with Bernardine and the opportunity to showcase their work at a prestigious literary venue.

Conductor Charles Hazlewood will create opportunities for four disabled musicians from the Paraorchestra to become a Paraorchestra Musician in Residence. The 12-month residencies will allow musicians to develop their artistic practise with support from Paraorchestra, responding to the idea of what live music can be for a 21st century musician.

Dance artist Akram Khan will support three UK-based dance artists with a six-month artist development programme and a bursary of £6,000 each. The programme will provide an opportunity for dancers to investigate stories and themes from their own work before delving into their creative process. They will participate in one-to-one mentoring sessions with Akram and AKC Creative Associate Mavin Khoo and will be invited to attend two collective sessions in London to observe Akram and his company and to network with other international artists.

Sculptor Anish Kapoor will award three artists with a grant that will support their practice. Through Sky Arts, audiences will be invited to engage with the ideas and themes their work explores. Anish will seek to find a new generation of artists who are making new content and challenging what art can be.

Applications are now open for the Sky Arts Artistic Associates Bursary at Stratford East - click here for more information.